First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Markus Gloeckler Sells 800 Shares of Stock

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR) CTO Markus Gloeckler sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 5,842 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,400. This represents a 12.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Markus Gloeckler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 4th, Markus Gloeckler sold 829 shares of First Solar stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.00, for a total transaction of $205,592.00.
• On Monday, August 3rd, Markus Gloeckler sold 3,425 shares of First Solar stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.95, for a total value of $749,903.75.

First Solar Price Performance

Shares of First Solar stock opened at $202.60 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.90. First Solar, Inc. has a one year low of $182.99 and a one year high of $320.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.74.

First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The solar cell manufacturer reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $1.02. First Solar had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 32.47%.The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.18 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Solar, Inc. will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FSLR. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of First Solar in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of First Solar from $300.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of First Solar from $245.00 to $323.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $318.00 price target on shares of First Solar and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on First Solar from $213.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Solar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.27.

Institutional Trading of First Solar

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of First Solar by 24,534.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,336,421 shares of the solar cell manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,045,862,000 after purchasing an additional 38,180,800 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,310,298,000. Hill City Capital LP purchased a new stake in First Solar in the 2nd quarter valued at about $620,133,555. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of First Solar during the 4th quarter worth approximately $392,040,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of First Solar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $212,626,000. Institutional investors own 92.08% of the company’s stock.

First Solar Company Profile

First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) is a United States–based solar technology company best known for designing and manufacturing thin?film photovoltaic (PV) modules that use cadmium telluride (CdTe) semiconductor technology. The company supplies PV modules and delivers integrated solar power solutions for utility?scale projects, positioning itself as a provider of both components and complete solar energy systems rather than solely a parts supplier. First Solar was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Beyond module manufacturing, First Solar offers a range of project services including development support, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services, and operations and maintenance (O&M) for large-scale solar installations.